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Variations in Grain Size Analysis with a Time‐of‐Transition Laser Sizer (Galai CIS‐50) using a Gravitational Flow System
Author(s) -
Bohling Björn
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
particle and particle systems characterization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-4117
pISSN - 0934-0866
DOI - 10.1002/ppsc.200400915
Subject(s) - range (aeronautics) , reproducibility , standard deviation , grain size , flow (mathematics) , pipette , particle size distribution , materials science , volumetric flow rate , analytical chemistry (journal) , mechanics , physics , mathematics , statistics , chemistry , particle size , chromatography , composite material
Abstract This study deals with grain size analysis with a Laser Sizer Galai CIS‐50. This device utilizes the time‐of‐transition method and is equipped with a module for measurements in the range 0.5 to 150 μm along with a gravitational flow system. Experiments were conducted using natural marine sediments. The aim was to determine possible explanations for discrepancies in the measured results that occurred between different operators of the Galai CIS‐50. These discrepancies may be due to differences in the technique of inserting a sub‐sample into the measurement system. Furthermore, the influence of the sample concentration and the flow velocity in the device's liquid flow cell is considered, since these factors can act as potential sources of inaccuracies and errors in the experimental setup. Strong variations in the results occurred, which were mainly due to problems in the detection of particles >20 μm. In the range>20 μm gaps appeared in the registration of the size distribution. An improvement in reproducibility was achieved by using a pipette instead of a beaker for the insertion step. Nevertheless, the standard deviation for mean grain sizes of natural marine sediments obtained with the Galai CIS‐50 is still about 20%.